


The Dangers of Singing in the Shower

by Elthadriel



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dating, M/M, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 01:44:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4768889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elthadriel/pseuds/Elthadriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian first meets his neighbour when he makes the drunken mistake of turning the Iron Bull singing in the shower into a duet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dangers of Singing in the Shower

**Author's Note:**

> My entry to the Adoribull Minibang, that ended up being longer than I planned because I decided last minute it totally needed a sex scene. Also, I swear the title of this stupid fic has changed every time I've shown it anyone.
> 
> The beautful art is by [Cathybites](http://stupidlullabies.tumblr.com/post/128771229512/more-adoribullmb-art-this-is-for-elthadriel-s/), go reblog her art on tumblr!
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful [Hlaoroo](http://vombatuspiraticus.tumblr.com/).

Dorian fumbled to pull his keys from his pocket, cursing the tightness and the clumsiness of his drunken hands. He finally fished them out and promptly dropped them. Cursing, he leaned down, having to keep a hand on the wall to maintain his balance, and even then almost falling. Fortunately he only had to swipe part of the key to an electrical reader to unlock the door rather than struggling to get the key into a small lock.

 

He pushed open the heavy door and stumbled up the stairs, past the lift that smelled faintly of urine that Dorian avoided out of fear of getting trapped in it during its regular malfunctions. He wasn’t that many floors up anyway.

 

He gripped the banister tightly as he made his slow progress up the steps, using it to haul him up when his feet seemed to forget how to move. Despite the cold and slightly intimidating nature of his building there was a happy buzzing in his head and he felt warm and sleepy.

 

He kept his head down as he passed a couple coming down the stairs and moved as far too one side as possible. He hadn’t really interacted with any of his neighbours, but it was hard to trust anyone when there were police in the building every month or so asking about thefts, violence, drugs, and, on two occasions, murders. Dorian didn’t regret cutting himself off from his family and the money that connection had provided him, but he did miss living in a nice part of town.

 

He made it to his flat in one piece and managed to unlock his door relatively quickly, though he almost fell when the door opened. He had forgotten he was using it to prop himself upright.

 

He dropped his jacket on the floor next to the door and toed off his shoes. He carefully made his way across the room into his bedroom. He pulled off his shirt, a white v-neck that was criminally low and far tighter than would have been accepted in polite company. Some of his jewellery followed the t-shirt, though they were abandoned on the dresser rather than the floor. He kept on several rings; he couldn’t actually be certain when the last time he had had no rings on at all had been. His more extravagant piercings were replaced with plainer ones far more suited to sleeping in.

 

He was too drunk to care about showering, but even when his brain wasn’t working at full capacity he was aware enough know that removing the worst of the product in his hair and his make-up was important.

 

He made it through to his bathroom without injuring himself and even found his dry shampoo and make-up remover fairly easily.

 

He sprayed the shampoo into his hair, rubbing it through with his fingers, concerned only with making it so it wouldn’t be a complete disaster the next morning.

 

He was about to grab his make-up remover when he heard it; his neighbour was singing.

 

This wasn’t unusual, per-say, in fact Dorian was woken almost every day at some time between five and six in the morning by his neighbour’s morning shower performance but this was the first time that he was conscious enough to consider doing something beyond turning over and placing a pillow on his head.

 

Dorian cocked his head frowning considering a few choice words to yell through the wall, maybe accompanied with him pounding on the wall, before he realised he recognised the song. He shouldn’t know the song, it was something awful and poppy and Dorian must have heard it on the radio or in a shop somewhere because he would never listen to this voluntarily. Worse, he not only recognised that song, he knew the lyrics.

 

He only realised he had joined in when his neighbour’s singing stopped abruptly. Dorian kept singing however, drunk enough not to know better, and after a few lines the deep male voice joined back in. They finished the song together, and then the water cut off and there was the muffled sound of someone moving around before it fell mostly silent.

 

Thinking little of it, Dorian went back to removing his make-up.

 

A minute later there was a knock at his door. He almost ignored it but it came again and Dorian didn’t have the patience to wait for them to leave. He was done removing the worst of his make-up anyway.

 

He grabbed the oversized shirt he slept in, pulling it over his head as he stomped across to the front door.

 

Dorian pulled open the door and found a tall, broad, and pleasingly muscular Qunari standing in the hallway. He was naked except for a white towel wrapped around his waist and there was still a dampness clinging to his skin from the shower.

 

“You must be the guy who moved in several months back, it’s nice to finally meet you,” the Qunari said, humour dancing in his eye.

 

Oddly, despite being significantly more dressed than the Qunari, Dorian became very aware of the fact he was still wearing very tight jeans. A moment later he also realised he had no make-up left on, not even eyeliner, and that his hair was surely rather flat and sad looking now the product had been removed.

 

“I suppose it is.” Dorian said before trying for some of the manners that had been taught to him as a child, even if it was only the bare minimum. “I’m Dorian.”

 

“I’m the Iron Bull,” Bull said, and Dorian had to admit it was a fitting name.

 

“You’re wearing a towel,” Dorian said dumbly, staring at Bull’s lower half while the still sober part of his brain screamed at him to raise his eyes. He didn’t listen.

 

“Yes,” Bull said, amused.

 

“Why are you wearing a towel?” Dorian asked, still staring.

  
“Well I was having a shower, but one of my neighbours decided he wants to perform a duet with me. It only seemed fair I come and meet the man after that.” Bull didn’t seem like he was going to punch Dorian, despite him being a Qunari and Dorian being from Tevinter, and despite Dorian interrupting his morning routine by being a mess of a drunk. Dorian was glad; he’d been punched before, for far lesser crimes, and it wasn’t fun.

 

“Oh, right, yes.” Dorian didn’t exactly have an explanation for his actions.  “Sorry.” He was far too drunk to be having this conversation.

 

“I’ll try to keep the singing down in future,” Bull said, not pushing the subject but the glint in his eye suggested that he hadn’t forgotten and was unlikely to.

 

“I’m not normally awake when you shower, I normally just ignore it and go back to sleep.” He said. “I was out late tonight.” He added, rather unnecessarily.

 

“You should have a drink of water and go to sleep.”

 

Dorian wanted to be offended at the patronising tone but Bull had a point. His eyelids were starting to feel heavy and he was actually considering slipping down to sit on the ground.

 

Bull’s towel was slipping lower on his hip and Dorian couldn’t seem to stop staring at it. Bull coughed and Dorian wrenched his eyes back up to Bull’s face.

 

“It was nice to meet you, Dorian,” Bull said, and though his tone and expression remained unchanged, Dorian felt like Bull was laughing at him.

 

“The pleasure was all mine,” Dorian said on autopilot, only managing because of years of practise. Bull beamed at him before turning to return to his own flat.

 

Dorian closed the door after he heard Bull’s own open and close. He stood staring at the closed door for several minutes before he remembered how tired he was and he stumbled back through to his bedroom. He struggled out of his jeans, leaving them on the floor and climbed into bed, collapsing face first in the pillows and passing out.

 

\---

 

Dorian really should have drunk more water before going to bed.

 

It was mid-afternoon when he finally woke up. A sliver of sunlight had made it through the gap in his thick curtains and lay across the bed down near his feet. His head was pounding, his mouth was dry, and most of the night before was a hazy blur; he thought had had made out with a brunet, but he might have only wanted to. The only plus he could think of was that it didn’t taste like he had been sick.

 

He rolled out of bed, making a loud noise of complaint, even if there was no one there to hear it. He pulled on a pair of trousers, went through to his living room, wrote one hundred and seventeen words of his dissertation, ate some leftover Chinese food, regretted it, wrote another sixty-four words, texted Sera to inform her he wasn’t dead and to check she wasn’t either, and went back to bed.

 

He forced himself out of bed again a couple of hours later, reminding himself he had to shower if nothing else. He striped himself of his clothes, leaving them on the bed, making a mental note to tidy up once he had gotten over the swearing off drinking forever stage of having a hangover, and blundered into the bathroom.

 

The water was blissfully warm, despite the low pressure and worrisome noises the old shower made, and wiping off all lingering remains of the night before helped him remember what being human felt like.

 

He climbed out of the shower, optimistic about being able to both tidy and write more of his essay before he had to sleep again. He froze, only half dry, when he heard movement on the other side of the wall, a muffled rummaging. It wasn’t a sound he had never heard before, the building had notoriously thin walls, but it pulled up a memory from the night before, one he would have been happier never having to relive.

 

Dorian had lived here for almost a year and he had managed to avoid any real interactions with his neighbours. After all, this was only temporary until he got his PhD and a teaching position. Then he could move somewhere, while not up to the standard he had been raised in, certainly more acceptable. However, despite this success in avoiding meeting anyone, it was completely fitting with his luck for his first interaction to be while drunk, after an impromptu duet, and with a Qunari; an attractive Qunari in a towel.

 

Dorian wondered if moving was an option.

 

“You still alive, Dorian?” A voice suddenly called through the wall. Dorian dropped the towel in shock and leapt into the air.

 

“Fine, thank you.” He snapped. He was naked and talking to a Qunari. He definitely needed to move.

 

“Good, I was worried about you. Thought you might have died of alcohol poisoning or you’d get stuck in those trousers of yours and starve to death on the floor, hopelessly tangled forever.” Dorian’s drunken memories had not done the deepness of Bull’s voice justice.

 

Dorian huffed and stalked out of the bathroom. He couldn’t believe he was having to flee his own bathroom.

 

\---

 

Moving wasn’t really an option until he had a better job than being a TA, so he would just have to settle for never talking to Bull again. They kept very different schedules and Dorian had never encountered him before the other day, he would have remembered someone so… _large_ , it shouldn’t be that hard to continue never encountering him.

 

Unfortunately, his shower chose the next day to finally give up on him, spluttering out, and no amount of cursing or slapping the side of it seemed to be bringing it back to life.

 

The problem was of course that Dorian didn’t really know anyone in town, and certainly not near enough that Dorian could realistically use their shower for the week the owner had said it would take to fix his. His attempts to avoid meeting his neighbours, which had seemed like such a good idea to begin with, now left him in the terribly awkward situation of not knowing anyone else in the building except for the Iron Bull.

 

Dorian actually considered cleaning himself out of the sink for a week before he pulled on a pair of trousers and a shirt and stomped next door.

 

Bull answered the door with a pleasant smile that turned into a grin when he realised it was Dorian.

 

“Liked what you saw the other day?” Bull asked, leering at him, though if Dorian was willing to give Bull the benefit of the doubt, which he wasn’t, there was good natured teasing edge to his tone, contradicting the leer.

 

“My shower’s broken,” Dorian said, cutting straight through all pleasantries, “and won’t be fixed for a week. I don’t know anyone else in the building and I was hoping you would be as kind as to let me use yours.”

 

“Oh, sure.” Bull said, dropping the leer and smiling pleasantly again instead. He stepped out of the doorway so as to let Dorian in.

 

“I would need to get my things,” Dorian said, shocked at how readily Bull had agreed. He’d thought there was a chance Bull would say yes, or he wouldn’t have asked, but he had expected him to be a little more reluctant. Dorian certainly wouldn’t have wanted his acquaintance of two days asking a favour of him; certainly not considering the manner in which they had met.

  
Bull nodded. “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you, just come back in.”

 

Dorian wondered if there was word for the feeling of annoyance caused by someone you wanted to hate being nice to you. He would have to look it up.

 

He hesitated before re-entering Bull’s flat. He had been given permission, but it still felt slightly rude, and he couldn’t help but think of all the empty invitations his family had handed out to their peers to come visit them at their country house.

 

Bull’s flat was almost exactly the same as his, except that while Dorian had chosen to keep his decorating to a subtle minimum, as this wasn’t permanent, and he didn’t exactly have money to spare, Bull had seemed to decide that he wanted every colour represented somewhere, normally in clashing combinations. It was just as cluttered as Dorian’s, however. Though while that mostly came out of laziness in Dorian’s case, and a lack of suitable shelving for all his books, Bull just seemed to have a lot of stuff. Trinkets, keepsakes, and a handful of objects Dorian couldn’t even begin to guess at the nature of, covered the flat.

 

“Would you like something to drink?” Bull asked, appearing from a door.

 

Dorian jumped slightly, clutching his toiletries and clean clothes to his chest.

 

“No, thank you,” Dorian said, staring at Bull. At some point between answering the door and now he had lost his shirt and he was just as pleasant to look at as Dorian remembered. Thick and solid, and Dorian could imagine how it would feel with that weight above him, pinning him to the bed, or the stretch it would put on his thighs if he were to try and straddle Bull.

 

Bull coughed and Dorian flushed when he realised he had been caught staring. Bull wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Fortunately, he chose not to call Dorian on his ogling; he had probably removed his shirt on purpose in an attempt to get this very response. Qunari were sneaky like that. At least Dorian assumed they were, as he had never actually talked to one before. He had seen some on the streets of Skyhold and a couple in his classes but the closest he had ever come to interacting with them were in the porn magazines he had managed to sneak past his father, and in one particularly memorable romance novel about a forbidden romance between an Altus and a Qunari warrior who met in Seheron. Not that he would ever admit it, but it had been one of the eleven books he had taken with him when he left home.

 

Bull was still looking at him like he had caught Dorian with his hand in the cookie jar and Dorian reconsidered just using the sink At the very least he really needed to stop thinking about sex.

 

Unfortunately, Bull appeared to have other ideas.

 

“Are you sure those trousers are acceptable?” Bull asked, smirking.

 

“Excuse me?” Dorian asked, holding his towel like a shield in front of him.

 

“Are you certain they are tight enough? People might not be see the complete outline of your ass and it would be frankly cruel to deny the world of that sight.” Bull said, and Dorian wanted to know where he had learned to look so damned sincere. To Bull’s credit, they had been exceptionally tight jeans.

 

“I was facing you,” Dorian snapped. “There’s no way you could have seen my arse.”

 

Bull chuckled.

 

“That’s true. By the way, the lock bathroom door is a little stiff but if you pull the door tight while you lock it, it’ll work just fine.” Bull nodded at over at what Dorian assumed was the bathroom.

 

Dorian eyed Bull suspiciously but despite Bull’s aggressive flirting, he certainly didn’t seem like the type to take advantage.

 

“Thank you again,” Dorian said, and turned and walked towards the bathroom.

 

“I can see your ass now.” Bull commented but Dorian was ready this time.

 

“You should enjoy the view; it’s likely the prettiest thing you’ll ever see.”

 

Bull sorted with laughter as Dorian pulled the door shut and forced the lock home.

 

\---

 

Dorian most certainly did not jerk off in the shower to the thought of an infuriating Qunari who seemed determined to ruin his life and just happened to be exactly his type.

 

He did seriously consider it however.

 

\---

 

“You know,” Bull said, when Dorian re-joined him in the living room. “I could fix your shower.”

 

Dorian looked up from where he was fixing his hair in Bull’s mirror. He would have done it in the bathroom but the lighting was far from ideal, and he would have gone back to his own flat but Bull had offered him a drink again, and Dorian felt it would be impolite to refuse. Bull probably didn’t get to speak to someone as charming as him very often.

 

“Is that what you do? Fix showers?”  He asked, finding it remarkably easy to picture Bull in a tight fitting tank top with a tool belt around his waist.

 

“Among other things,” Bull said, watching Dorian fuss over his appearance while their drinks cooled. Bull had had a surprisingly large selection of herbal teas and small, dainty cups to put them in. Dorian hadn’t pointed out how ridiculous they looked in Bull’s huge hands, but he hoped his raised eyebrow had gotten the message across. “Officially I’m a Contractor, but I have a lot of experience in DIY.”

 

Dorian started making a quick pros and cons list in his head, but kept getting distracted when ‘possibly seeing Bull in a tight tank top and tool belt’ kept appearing on the pros list, no matter how many times he tried to dismiss the idea. Bull wasn’t even wearing a shirt, for the maker’s sake. If Dorian was going to have pathetic fantasies about his Qunari neighbour they should at least involve less clothing than he was currently wearing.

 

“It’s up to you. You’re welcome to use mine whenever you like until it’s fixed, I can lend you a key in case you need it while I’m out, but I can at least take a look at it for you. Maintenance always takes forever and does a shit job anyway.”

 

“Do you give out keys to everyone you’ve just met?” Dorian asked.

 

“Only the hot ones.” Bull did something with his eye that Dorian refused to acknowledge, even in his own head, as winking.

 

Dorian took a sip of tea, huffing with disgust at the flirting but Bull’s grin suggested that Bull knew he was bluffing.

 

“The lady who lived in the flat before you had my spare key and I’ve been meaning to find someone else in the building to give one too ever since.” Bull said with a shrug, as if that made giving an almost complete stranger access to his house anymore normal.

 

“I suppose you could see if there’s anything you can do,” Dorian said, still wary.

 

“Sounds great. I have plans in a few, so I can’t look just now but maybe tomorrow evening?” Bull didn’t seem to be hinting at anything but Dorian felt a little guilty for interrupting his evening. He shouldn’t have stayed for a drink. He took another large mouthful.

 

“I finish teaching at about five, what if you came round about six, so I can get home and change?”

 

“Make it seven,” Bull said, “that way you can cook me dinner as thanks.”

 

Dorian didn’t quite freeze but it was a close call. Was that a date? Was he being asked on a date? Dorian didn’t exactly have much dating experience beyond meeting up with people for dinner as a social requirement before eventual fucking, and he wasn’t sure of the protocol. Then again, maybe this was just a prelude to fucking, but it didn’t seem like anyone would be stupid enough to try and have a one night stand with a next-door neighbour, and certainly not if said neighbour had a copy of their key.

 

He would almost certainly say yes if Bull asked him on a date so where was the harm?

 

“Fine, but if you expect me to cook you have to provide wine.”

 

Bull grinned at him, but rather than the predatory leer he had his Dorian with earlier, this time it was a wide, childlike smile that made Dorian feel like he had just agreed to give Bull a kidney, rather than make him dinner.

 

Dorian quickly drained the rest of his tea.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, making his way towards the door.

 

“Wear the tight jeans!” Bull called after him as Dorian escaped back into the hallway.

 

\---

 

Of course, because the world seemed to hate him, the next day was the first time in weeks that class ran on late enough that he missed the first bus.

 

He wasn’t going to be late, he had plenty of time, and he had at least had the foresight to purchase the food he would need in advance but it did mean he wouldn’t really have any time to make even the barest effort at cleaning his apartment. He hadn’t been planning a mad frenzy of cleaning but he would have at least liked the time to move some of his books to the side, and maybe even vacuum the floor.

 

He did find time to get changed, remembering to put on a tight pair of jeans, though not as ridiculously tight as the night he had met Bull, before he started preparing dinner. He was making a spicy Tevinter meal, one of the only complicated dishes he could make, and only after many failed attempts and lots of advice from Felix, watching him through Dorian’s laptop camera.

 

Bull knocked on the door at almost exactly seven, just after Dorian had thrown the onions into the pan. Bull wasn’t wearing a tank top, but he was wearing a sinfully tight white t-shirt with a heart on the front. Dorian had to wonder how Bull had got the shirt over his horns. He also didn’t have a tool belt but a metal box, held in one hand.

 

“Looks good,” Bull said, nodding through to the food out on the counters and Dorian shrugged casually, as if this was the sort of cooking he did ever evening, and he wasn’t the sort of person who had to live off ready meals and take-out to avoid fires and food poisoning.

 

He led Bull through to the bathroom, closing the toilet seat so Bull had somewhere to set his toolbox. He watched Bull get into the shower and start fiddling with it before he muttered something about dinner and left Bull to it. Much as he would like to talk to Bull, and stare at him as he worked, he also didn’t want to burn their food.

 

Dorian returned once he had checked on their dinner, and hovered in the doorway, watching the muscles in Bull’s back shift under his skin as he did something important looking with a wrench.

 

“Enjoying the view?” Bull asked, wiggling his hips and glancing over his shoulder at Dorian, grinning wickedly. Dorian frowned and turned his head away, looking around the bathroom, basically anywhere but at Bull’s back. Bull chuckled but turned back to his work.

 

It was then Dorian noticed his favourite dildo sitting out next to the sink.

 

It was large, large enough that it had taken not an unsubstantial amount of practice until he could take it, black and sitting proudly upright out in the open where anyone, such as the Qunari only a metre away from it, could see it. It was nestled next to some bottles containing moisturiser and make-up remover, and while that had allowed it to go unnoticed up until this point it wouldn’t keep it hidden from anyone looking directly in that direction.

 

Dorian wondered if he could grab it and flee the room without being noticed. He took a half step in its direction.

 

Bull chose that moment to look at Dorian and followed his gaze to the dildo sitting on the shelf. Bull looked between Dorian and the sex toy, seeming to be sizing Dorian up.

 

“Looks like you were a little over ambitious there,” Bull said.

 

“Shows what you know,” Dorian snapped back. A few seconds later he realised what he had said and flushed a deep red while Bull was looking at him like he had found a unicorn.

 

Dorian snatched up the dildo and stormed out of the room, throwing it into his underwear drawer and slamming it shut.

 

He returned to the kitchen and pretended the heat on his face was from the stove.

 

\---

 

Bull didn’t mention the dildo, which was a point in his favour, and he’d also fixed the shower, which was another. In doing so, he had got the front of his already tight shirt wet, and only Dorian’s dwindling self-respect stopped him from adding two additional points in Bull’s column.

 

There weren’t exactly hard rules when Dorian started mentally awarding points to men he was interested. Generally he had used it to stop him from making terrible choices when he was tempted to put getting laid before anything else. It was surprisingly quickly how unappealing many men would become when their good qualities and their bad ones were weighed up against each other.

 

He had just decided that if Bull managed to reach a cumulative five points before the end of dinner, he would attempt to approach the subject of dating, Bull pulled out a bottle of very expensive Tevinter wine.

 

Dorian pulled it out of Bull’s hands, probably slightly rudely, staring at the label as if it might change if he stared at it harder.

 

“Where did you even find this on a day’s notice?” Dorian asked, placing it down on the table, between the two plates of food he had presented, hurrying to get two glasses from the kitchen. He had almost forgotten that he had told Bull to bring wine, and at the time he had sort of assumed that if Bull did keep his promise it would be a cheap bottle from the supermarket.

 

Bull shrugged, like it was nothing. “I have a friend who drinks this kind of thing, and they owed me a favour.”

 

“That must have been some favour.” Dorian muttered, setting down the glasses and carefully removing the cork from the bottle. It had been far too long since he had had enough disposable income to afford anything even nearly this nice.

 

It felt odd having someone sitting at his small table with him, never mind that someone being a Qunari who made all of Dorian’s furniture look comically small.

 

Bull made easy conversation as they started to eat dinner. Bull was frustratingly entertaining, and Dorian found himself having far more fun than he had feared.

 

“This is really good,” Bull said, indicating their food, half way through the meal. Though Bull had been eating it hurriedly, Dorian had been worried Bull was only being polite, so he felt himself relax just a little in response.

 

He waved a dismissive hand, pleasantly tipsy on good wine. “It’s not as complicated as it looks, and I was taught entirely by a friend, I had very little to do with it.”

 

“You’re selling yourself short,” Bull insisted. “The spices in this are fucking great, your friend couldn’t have talked you through that, and that’s what’s making it taste amazing.”

 

“Is this some clumsy attempt at flattery Bull?” Dorian asked. “You are stretching it just a little.”

 

“Flattery is so much better when it’s true, and this is really good, you have a knack for this.” Bull felt the need to punctuate this statement by shoving a large mound of food into his mouth, and it took Dorian a second to tear his eyes away from a trickle of sauce that escaped down the side of Bull’s mouth. He firmly told himself that licking it away wasn’t an option.

 

“This is the only real meal I can make, hardly a talent.”

 

“Then maybe it’s a talent you haven’t properly discovered,” Bull said, seeming unperturbed, dabbing the sauce away with a napkin. “I could teach you some Qunari dishes if you’d like, and we could look up some more ‘Vint recipes and struggle through them together?”

 

Dorian swallowed. “I’d like that.”

 

Bull beamed like it was Dorian who was doing him the favour. “It’ll be fun,” Bull enthused. “I’ve never cooked ‘Vint food before, though some of the take-away places make me wonder if there isn’t some mage involved. Food shouldn’t taste as good as some ‘Vint stuff.” He very clearly indicated the food on his plate as he spoke, including it in his statement.

 

Dorian couldn’t help but make a disgusted noise, despite how happy the casual praise made him. “I’ve tried Southern attempts at Tevinter food. I would rather eat my own vomit. That they even dare to claim it is related to Tevinter food is frankly offensive.”

 

Bull chuckled. “You just need to find the right ones. I have a ‘Vint friend who swears by the one near his house, says it’s as good as anything back home. It’s run by real ‘Vints too. I’ll take you some time, you can meet the boys.”

 

Dorian didn’t have time to formulate a response to that because Bull chose that moment to take Dorian’s hand across the table.

 

It dwarfed Dorian’s, and had rough calluses over the palm, but Bull was gentle for such a large man, and Bull’s hand was warm where it covered Dorian’s.

 

Bull was smiling at Dorian, nothing like the leering from yesterday, and certainly nothing like how Dorian was used to being smiled at. He really wanted to kiss Bull.

 

Bull had smashed through his point system anyway, and it had been a long time since Dorian had had any more action than a quick fumble in a club.

 

He leant across the table, relieved that Bull mirrored him only a moment later.

 

There was a moment where they were both leaning across the table, one of Dorian’s hands on Bull’s between them, their mouths only millimetres apart, breath mixing between them. Dorian wanted to close the gap but also didn’t want to ruin the moment of anticipation. Their noses bumped slightly as they tried to hold the position, and Bull moved his hand under Dorian’s lacing their fingers together a little.

 

Bull was looking at Dorian intently, eye dark, and Dorian for a second pictured Bull grabbing him, hauling him across the table and taking him right there. It was that thought that finally broke his patience and pushed him forward to close the gap.

 

Bull lips were narrow but soft, and coaxed Dorian’s mouth open with shocking ease. Bull drew Dorian’s lower lip into his mouth, sucking at it and tugging it with his teeth. Dorian wanted to bring a hand up to Bull’s face, to pull him closer, or even to have something to hold, but he couldn’t move his hands from the table without risking over balancing.

 

He changed the way their mouths met, tilting his head, opening his mouth a little more, and kissing Bull demandingly until Bull pushed his tongue into Dorian’s mouth, and Dorian gave a contented little sigh.

 

Dorian had kissed a lot of men in his time, and had done so far more recently than he’d had sex, but there was something about the way Bull kissed that made it feel a little like his first time all over again. Maybe it was the complete lack of guilt or fear in the action. When he had been with men in Tevinter, even when they were tucked away where they were unlikely to be caught, there was still low-level anxiety about the entire affair, and he could never quite push down the bad feelings about disappointing his family. Even in clubs in Ferelden, while no one was going to harass him for his preferences, it still felt slightly forbidden or shameful, due to the very nature of the sexual surroundings.

 

This didn’t feel anything like that.

 

Maker, if kissing Bull felt this good, Dorian couldn’t imagine how good actually having sex with Bull would be.

 

Bull finally broke the kiss, sitting back down, smirking at Dorian. Dorian had been smirked at by men he had fooled around with before, but this felt different; Bull grinned like Dorian was in on the joke too, not the butt of it.

 

Dorian smiled back.

 

“Well, that certainly took an unexpected turn.”

 

“You mean to tell me you didn’t come here with the intention of seducing me?” Dorian asked, playing off how breathless he still felt. “I assumed with all that talk about my arse…”

 

“I’ll admit I was hopeful, but I don’t like to assume,” Bull said. “I’m also hopeful for dessert though.”

 

Dorian felt himself flush a little at Bull’s words, and internally cursed himself. He stood quickly to collect a tub of ice-cream he knew he had stashed at the back of his freezer. He hadn’t known Bull even nearly long enough for him to be getting stupid on him. If he wasn’t careful, this was going to be like Rilienus all over again.

 

Dorian returned with two bowls and spoons, not missing the way Bull’s eye light up, and how it made Dorian want to kiss him again. He needed to speak to Sera, he needed advice on this before he screwed it up. He wasn’t sure how people dealt with wanting to fuck someone, but also share dinner with them the next day. He was so used to a fuck-and-leave style of meeting people.

 

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” Dorian said, standing, after continuing the conversation long enough so it didn’t look like he was leaving because of the kiss.

 

Bull nodded, still finishing off his desert. “Take your time.”

 

Dorian ducked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He sat on the closed toilet, and pulled out his phone. He scrolled down to Sera’s name, tapped it and stared at the small keyboard for a moment before typing.

 

 _“Sera, how many dates do you need to go on before you can have a man bend you over a table and fuck you senseless without being a slut?”_ He hit send before he could think better of it. He doubted she’d be very helpful, but she might at least be able to sooth his anxiety a little.

Dorian had hooked up with people with whom he had spent far less time than with Bull, but there was a difference between meeting someone with the intention of a quick fuck, and someone you might want to date. He didn’t want Bull to think he was only interested in fucking.

 

His phone vibrated in his hand. _“woahhh is dori gonna get some???????”_

He rolled his eyes, ignoring her implication, and the nickname. _“How many, Sera?”_

_“3 but do it anyway”_ She replied almost immediately. Three seemed reasonable, he could wait for three dates; that’s if Bull wanted to go on three dates with him. Then again, it had been a while since he’d had sex, and even longer since he had been so hopelessly attracted to someone.

 

This would have been far easier if Bull wasn’t so frustratingly fun.

 

Before he could formulate a response, Sera texted again. _“how many have you been on?????”_

_“I don’t know. Maybe none?”_ He sort of sensed he had made a mistake a moment after he had sent it.

“ _the fuk????”_

 

Dorian let out a long sigh before replaying, very aware he was going to be mocked for this. _“We sung a duet through the wall when I was drunk, then he let me use his shower, and now we are having dinner that I made after he helped me fix my shower.”_

_“hahahahahahahahahahahaha”_

_“Yes, yes, very funny.”_

_“XDXD hahahahaha”_

_“Sera.”_ He still didn’t know what to do about Bull.

 

_“Just tell him you want his man meat.”_

 

Dorian considered banging his head off the wall, but he had run out of time to get help from Sera, not wanting to sit in the bathroom too long. He flushed the toilet, and washed his hands, only to keep up appearances.

 

“Sorry about that,” Dorian said, sitting back down.

 

“So, what did Sera say? Do we have her blessing?”

 

Dorian paled, fork freezing part way to his mouth.

 

“Excuse me?” He asked, trying to sound like his world wasn’t falling apart around him.

 

“Sera and I go to the same bar. Small world.” Bull said, with a small shrug. “We were talking last night and I told her I was fixing a cute ‘Vint’s shower. She demanded details and worked it out. She sent me a screenshot of your text.”

 

Dorian swallowed. “Which one?” He asked, trying desperately to sound like he was a person who wasn’t hoping for a hole to open under his feet that he could fall into never to remerge.

 

“Something about how many dates we needed to go on before I could bend you over a table?” Dorian took back any nice thoughts he had ever had about Bull, he was a terrible person. The same went for Sera. He was going to delete her number and never speak to her again.

 

“Ah…” Forget having to just move buildings, Dorian was going to have to change his name, grow a beard Blackwall would be proud of, and live in a cave for the rest of his life.

 

“Remember to breathe, Dorain,” Bull said, putting a bite of food into his mouth. Dorian would have glared at him only it was a rather helpful reminder.

 

“The idea what you have to go on a certain amount of dates with someone before you can sleep with them is crap anyway.” Bull looked at where Dorian was thinking about freaking out, he never had been good at dealing with embarrassment. “Remember to breathe,” Bull said, reaching across and patting Dorian’s hand.

 

Dorian took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m aware of the issues of their being negativity attached to being sexually promiscuous, I was mostly wanting advice on if it set the wrong precedent to sleep with someone on a first date if you actually wanted to date them rather than hook up.” Maybe he had misread the situation, maybe offering to fix his shower had just been a polite thing to do before fucking Dorian and ditching him.

 

It did sound like something out of a porno after all.

 

“You want to date me?”

 

“That’s a thing people do in the South is it not?” Dorian said guardedly. At least the embarrassment seemed to be fading in favour of defensiveness. “If they find someone they find attractive and not wholly unappealing as a person.”

 

“Tell you what,” Bull said, “We’ll count today as a date, then I’ll come past the university during my lunch break and we can grab some coffee and a sandwich. Then if we go to dinner that evening we have made the magic three dates. Then I’ll take you home and fuck you in your newly working shower; that dildo of yours will be good warm up.” Bull grabbed himself through his trousers and Dorian was proud to say he didn’t drool.

 

“Fine,” he said, and gave a dismissive wave of his hand, hoping he could at least save some of his dignity, “but considering I actually cooked for you tonight, you’re paying and it has to be somewhere nice. I know the places Sera likes to hang out and I want nothing to do with that scene.”

 

Bull grinned.

 

“Considering this is a first date, we should so something other fix your shower and admire your sex toys,” said Bull. Dorian made a pained noise at the reminder. “Dinner and a movie is traditional, and you already took care of dinner. It tasted fucking great, by the way. You ‘Vints know your spice if nothing else.”

 

“What movie?”

 

“Die Hard is on Netflix now,” Bull said, eyes lighting up like a puppy at the thought of mindless action and impressive explosions.

 

Dorian narrowed his eyes.

 

“Fine, but I expect there to be making out when the plot gets particularly nonsensical and I get bored.” Dorian had little interest in that sort of movie, but he was unwilling to do anything to take that expression off Bull’s face. Besides, he really wanted to kiss Bull some more.

 

“With offers like that, ‘Vint, I think I’m going to have to ask you on a fourth date.”

 

\---

 

Dorian didn’t think he could have given more than the very vaguest description of the movie they had watched, considering he had spent most of it sprawled across Bull’s chest, kissing him lazily. He had considered just saying to forget the other dates, and demand Bull take him to bed immediately but there was something pleasant about kissing for the hell of it, and the anticipation of having to wait another day was equally exciting.

 

Bull had left a little before midnight, after only a brief hold up outside Dorian’s door where they had kissed a little more, right in the hallway were anyone could see them. There was a small thrill that always went through Dorian at being with men where he could be seen, not from any feeling of daringness, but from that it didn’t need to be daring at all, no one cared.

 

At last Bull had reminded him they both had work in the morning and Bull had gone back to his own apartment. He had thumped on the bathroom wall as Dorian was doing his teeth, and called good night. Dorian had allowed himself a smile, knowing no one was watching before he had slipped into bed.

 

\---

 

Lunch was a casual affair in one of the cafés on campus, and Bull very politely listened while Dorian complained passionately about the stupidity of some of his students, and the problems it caused him.

 

Bull did finally quiet him by offering him some of the brownie he had got after their sandwiches, and even managed to feed some of it to Dorian himself, pressing it into Dorian’s mouth, grinning while Dorian sucked at his fingers as well as the brownie.

 

After that, conversation had been slightly less rage filled, and Bull returned the favour by talking about some of his co-workers and their ridiculous antics, which Dorian denied finding funny, despite having to hide hiding a smile behind his cup.

 

Bull walked him back to his building, and pressed a kiss to Dorian’s check, which seemed ridiculously chaste considering they had spent hours the night before making out, but was nice all the same.

 

They both made their own ways home, and Dorian changed into more casual clothes, including a tight pair of jeans, though not as tight as the infamous pair he had been wearing when they had met.

 

Bull  texted him the address of a small restaurant several blocks from their building, that Dorian had never heard of, let alone tried, but Bull promised would live up to his standards. Bull kissed his check when they met again, and Dorian had to accept that Bull did seem to be taking this seriously, rather than as a requirement before fucking.

 

He could get used to dating, it seemed.

 

Dinner had a different feeling to lunch. They sat closer, and Bull was finding more excuses to touch him as they talked; each touch causing Dorian’s skin to tingle slightly. Dorian felt slightly hot under his collar, knowing exactly what was coming and entertaining the idea of sweeping all the food from the table and having Bull fuck him right there, more than once.

 

They walked back, Bull’s arm casually around Dorian’s shoulder, and Dorian could smell Bull clearly, a heavy, masculine scent that almost made him shiver in excitement. Dorian was mostly surprised they were still finding things to talk about, despite the elephant in the room, and they argued playfully about the uses of aubergine in food on the way back to their building and up to their floor.

 

They stepped into Dorian’s flat, and the second Dorian had closed the door Bull was behind him, crowding him up against it. He towered over Dorian, and it was never more apparent than now. Dorian tilted his head up, mouth slightly open, but even when he went onto his tiptoes, hands on Bull’s shoulders for balance, Bull still kept his mouth out of reach.

 

Before Dorian could try anything else, Bull’s hands where at some of the buttons of his clothing, undoing them with surprising ease, considering how fiddly they were, and, while smirking down at Dorian. Bull pulled open the front of his jacket and shirt, displaying Dorian’s bare chest.

 

Bull ran his large hands up Dorian’s side, and Dorian’s breath hitched.

 

“Damn, Dorian, look at you,” said Bull. Dorian was used to compliments on his body, but while Bull’s eyes swept over his bare chest, he was back to looking Dorian in the eye when he spoke.

 

“Yes, yes, I’m the eighth wonder of the world,” Dorian said, working very hard to sound breezy. “But if you don’t mind, I believe I was promised you putting my dildo to shame.”

 

Bull grinned wickedly and pulled Dorian’s jacket and shirt from his shoulders and let them fall to the ground at Dorian’s feet.

 

Bull finally pressed their mouths together and Dorian gave a contended sigh. He could kiss Bull forever, only his hands where reaching for Bull without him even thinking about it, and while he could feel the heat of Bull’s skin through his clothing, it wasn’t enough to satisfy.

 

“You seem to be wearing an unfair amount of clothing,” Dorian panted, mouth never moving more than an inch from Bull’s. Bull’s hands where tiring of exploring of Dorian chest and were beginning to push at Dorian’s waist band, a couple fingers slipping under in search of more skin. “Bull, I will rip this shirt off you,” he said, nipping at Bull’s lip when Bull still seemed more interested in running his hands over Dorian’s skin, than listening.

 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Bull said, but grinned and reached up, gripping the top of his collar and tugging. It ripped right down the front, buttons hitting the floor loudly. It hung open off Bull’s shoulders, and Dorian was once again face with the full, impressive expanse of Bull’s chest.

 

Dorian swallowed.

  
“Shower,” he said, throat suddenly very dry.

 

They finally made it to the bathroom, abandoned clothes tracking their path from the door. Just as they stumbled through the door Bull’s hand slid completely under Dorian’s boxer-briefs, and gripped both of his arse-cheeks.

 

Dorian growled, sticking his teeth into Bull’s neck as he pushed his arse back into Bull’s hands. He could see Bull’s bulge through his underwear. He longed to rub up against it, but they were finally in the bathroom, and Bull pulled away to turn on the shower.

 

“How hot do you like it?” Bull asked, and Dorian almost laughed at the absurdity of the question considering what was about to happen.

 

“Hot,” he said, instead and pulled off his underwear. Dropping it onto the floor, he came up behind Bull. Bull turned to meet him and allowed himself to be pushed under the spray, socks and boxers still on.

 

The water was glorious on Dorian’s bare skin, even as it plastered his hair to his head. He had planned in advance for the water, and had worn as little make-up as he was comfortable with, and made completely sure everything else was very waterproof; he couldn’t take the same precautions with his hair however.

 

He tried to drag Bull back into a kiss, hungry to have Bull pressing back against, but Bull refused to be dragged down. Before Dorian could protest however, Bull’s hand closed around his cock and squeezed. Dorian groaned and fell back against the wall. He had never been more grateful for the adhesive surface of the shower floor, because otherwise he might have slipped embarrassingly.

 

The touch was gone as quickly as it had arrived, but Bull took advantage of Dorian’s distraction to pull off his remaining clothes, dropping them, sopping wet, to floor outside the shower. Dorian decided that it was worth being denied kissing Bull to see him naked. He had seen almost all of Bull when they had first met, so very little was a surprise to him. Not that that took away from his appreciation of the Bull’s bulky torso, and thighs that looked like they could crush a man’s skull, but he hadn’t seen Bull’s cock, beyond what he had made out through Bull’s clothing.

 

It was the stuff dreams were made of, and Dorian let out a shaky moan.

 

Bull grinned at him, and then Dorian was hauled back against him.

 

Dorian had had sex in a lot of locations, but he had to admit he had never done it in a shower. It was a little awkward; there wasn’t much space and water sometimes dripped down his face to catch in his eyes. However, the heat of water felt wonderful, as Bull let most of the stream hit him. Besides, it was worth it to see Bull’s skin glisten while wet, and the little rivers of water that made their way over the Bull gave Dorian lines to trace with his tongue.

 

Bull seemed to have made it his mission to cover as much of Dorian’s skin as possible in purple love bites, and lowered his head to suck just under Dorian’s ear. It was a rather possessive thing to do, considering that they had only met several days ago, but Dorian found himself not caring. Dorian had always liked carrying proof of his interactions with him for days afterwards.

 

Bull’s hands gripped under Dorian’s arse and he found himself tugged off the ground. His legs went around Bull’s waist to steady himself and he gripped at Bull’s shoulders.

 

Bull grinned up at him, and before Dorian could worry about what that meant for him, Bull’s teeth closed around Dorian’s nipple, now at Bull’s eye level, and tugged. Dorian let out a gasping moan, and his hands scrambled for a grip on Bull’s horns, tugging him closer.

 

“Ugh, please, yes,” he got out. The tiles were cool against his back, and while the water was hot it was nothing compared to the heat of Bull’s mouth. He wiggled slightly in Bull’s grip and he slipped slightly before Bull readjusted his grip. It wasn’t enough to cause any panic, but enough to align their crotches and to force Bull to duck his head to keep up his torture of Dorian’s nipple.

 

His cock twitched against Bull’s and he pealed a hand off one of Bull’s horns to reach down and take both of them in his hand.

 

Bull was too big when combined with his own cock to take comfortably in one hand, and the water wasn’t an ideal lubricant, even washing away a lot of their pre-come, but he gave it a valiant effort. By the way Bull’s hands tightened, on his thighs, and a growl rumbled in his chest Dorian could tell his efforts were appreciated.

 

“I shouldn’t have promised you the shower,” Bull said, dropping soft kisses over Dorian’s abused nipple between each word. “There’s not enough space here to worship you like you deserve.”

 

Dorian whined and hoped the sound of the water covered it.

 

“But this is how we met,” he said, praying to anyone who was listening that he managed to hit anything that wasn’t desperate. “Isn’t the shower special to both of us?”

 

“True,” Bull readjust his grip, moving Dorian’s weight. Dorian almost asked to be put down, for Bull’s sake, but selfishly wanted to remain being held. “Besides, there’s always next time.”

 

Bull’s new grip allowed him to spread Dorian’s arse cheeks slightly, and the tip of one large finger pressed at Dorian’s hole, causing him to give a full body shudder. He grasped desperately at Bull to avoid over balancing.

 

Dorian was too caught up with this time to even consider next time.

 

“There’s lube by the shampoo,” he said, gesturing with his head, grateful he had thought to put it there earlier. He didn’t think he could have managed to stumble through to his bedroom to get it otherwise.

 

Bull sighed, but dutifully grabbed it, pushing Dorian more firmly against the wall. He pushed the bottle into Dorian’s hands and for a second Dorian just stared dumbly at it.

 

“You’re going to have to ready yourself big guy I have my hands full,” Bull said, squeezing Dorian’s arse cheeks to punctuate his point.

 

Dorian poured a generous amount of lube onto one hand and reached back and pushed two fingers into himself, right up to the knuckle with no preamble. It stung, and he knew he should be slower, but he had done this many times before, and he was eager to have Bull inside him. Besides, a part of him wanted to impress Bull.

 

He pumped the two fingers in and out of himself, trying not to squirm too much in Bull, as he slowly fucked himself. He tried to shift his face into the stream of water, to hide some of his facial expressions, but Bull moved, denying him that. He closed his eyes tightly but he could still feel Bull watching him intently.

 

He couldn’t reach his prostate from this angle, and while he was a little frustrated, he suspected Bull would make sure it got plenty of attention later.

 

He pushed in another finger, twisting them up inside him, stretching him wider still. Bull’s grip on him was steady, and Bull’s fingers brushed against his hand. Dorian still tried to keep his movement to a minimum, though Bull didn’t seem to mind when he shifted and moaned.

 

“One more,” Bull said, voice deep; Dorian could feel it rumbling in Bull chest.

 

“It’s fine,” Dorian tried to insist. Bull kissed him, leaving his forehead resting against Dorian’s.

 

“I don’t want to hurt you, not even a little,” Bull said, and Dorian’s heart gave a strange twinge at the thought of something actually caring about his comfort over simply fucking him raw.

 

Dorian pulled out his hand to pour more lube into his fingers before reaching back around and pushing them into himself. Though the angle left much to be desired, the stretch was glorious, though he was certain Bull’s cock would stretch him even further. He would have been able to prepare himself better with a different position, but he wasn’t in the mood to try and find it. If he was being honest, he had wanted Bull in him from the moment he had seen him in that fluffy towel, and he wasn’t willing to wait much longer.

 

Leaving little room for argument, he pulled out his fingers again, lube dripping from his arse to the ground, and poured lube over Bull’s cock. He shifted his hands to Bull’s shoulders, ready to help shift his body weight.

 

They were face to face so Dorian had no real reason to avoid eye-contact with Bull, though he seriously considered it; meeting Bull’s eye felt too intimate, which was ridiculous considering what they were about to do.

 

Despite his misgivings he looked at Bull as Bull shifted him to line himself up but still didn’t push inside.

 

“If you need me to stop, just say,” Bull said, serious enough that Dorian acknowledged the promise, even if he wasn’t willing to acknowledge it aloud.

 

“Get. In. Me.” Dorian hissed, each word its own sentence, and with a roll of his eye, Bull obeyed.

 

Dorian was going to need a new, far bigger dildo if he was ever going to live up to this again. Bull was huge and hot within him, and for a moment Dorian was certain the world ceased to exist outside of Bull’s cock inside him. Not that Bull could ever know that, he was already far too smug by half.

 

“Fuck,” they both said, almost in unison, though while Bull’s was a reverent growl, Dorian’s almost sounded like begging.

 

“You are even more gorgeous like this,” Bull said, rolling his hips. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

 

Gravity forced Dorian heavily down on Bull, and there was little to no space between them. As Bull started thrusting he did his best to rise and fall in time, using his legs and hands to push himself up. His efforts helped push Bull deeper inside of him each time, filling him in a way his fingers could never have hoped to.

 

It took Bull a worrying short amount of time to find a position that allowed him to pound on Dorian’s prostate with each thrust and Dorian found himself moaning loudly, the echo in the room making it sound even louder, and writhe in Bull’s grasp.

  
“Please,” Dorian gave a desperate twitch of his hips, trying to find some friction for his cock, but while it was pressed between Bull’s belly and his own, it wasn’t even nearly enough.

 

“I’d help out,” Bull grunted, “but my hands are a little full.” Again Dorian found his arse being squeezed and he hoped he would wake with bruises the shape of Bull’s fingers there the next morning.

 

He took one hand off Bull’s shoulders and wrapped it around his cock. He didn’t need any encouragement to start tugging it in time to Bull’s thrusting.

 

He felt caught, trapped between the slide of his own hand, and the intense fullness of Bull’s cock, and he had no idea which one to focus on. His hand was so tight it almost hurt, but despite how much Bull was giving him, he couldn’t help but want even more. He kissed Bull messily, moaning loudly when Bull bit his lower lip, tugging roughly before sucking it in apology.

 

He had to break with Bull but he moved his hand faster. He could feel his building orgasm, and chased it down, no intentions of denying himself this for another moment.

 

“Bull,” he said, breaking the kiss to try to warn his partner how close he was.

 

“Come on ‘Vint, lets see you,” Bull said, shoving him higher on the wall and slamming in even hard. Dorian’s grip on his cock tightened and then he was coming, splattering both himself and Bull with his come, vision going white for a few blissful moments.

 

Dorian threw his head back, water pouring down his face, and Bull took advantage of the espoused skin and dropped his mouth to suck a dark mark into Dorian’s neck. Bull came only a few thrusts later, and Dorian’s feet found the floor again, as Bull released him. Dorian slid off Bull’s cock as Bull leant against the wall above him, breathing heavily. 

 

The shower was already washing Dorian clean of his own come, but he barely noticed, transfixed out how oddly handsome Bull looked like this, post orgasm, and grinning ruefully. Dorian didn’t think he would ever have described a Qunari as handsome before, certainly other positive words referring to their looks, but never handsome.

 

Bull shook his head, looking down at Dorian. “You made me rush that more than normal. Next time we’ll do it in a bed, and it’ll last hours.”

 

And there Bull had gone and mentioned next time again, and Dorian didn’t know how to respond. Sometimes a next time was implied, but planning for it seemed to be testing fate. Dorian decided he could get used to the idea of a certain next time.

 

Dorian was in a slight haze as Bull poured shampoo into his hair, and washed it quickly, but thoroughly, and Dorian knew he did very little to help. His legs felt a little weak, and Bull’s hands running through his hair felt more intense than they really had any right to.

 

The shower was turned off above him, but he grabbed Bull’s horns and tugged him back down into a kiss, before Bull could get out of the shower. Bull chuckled and surrendered to Dorian’s whims.

 

Dorian finally broke the kiss as he started to get cold, and they both stepped out of the shower. Dorian towel dried his hair, and thought mournfully that his hair would be a wreck the next day, as he had no intention of getting out his hairdryer. He knew Bull was watching him as he dried himself, and he almost made a comment about enjoying the view, but didn’t want to risk the moment.

 

There was an awkward moment after Dorian had finished when he realised he had no idea what happened next.

 

“Are you going to go back to yours?” He asked.

 

Bull shrugged. “Is that what you want?”

 

Dorian wanted to make Bull decide, because he had no idea what he wanted, but that seemed too cowardly to consider. Instead, he hid what he actually wanted behind a layer of superiority.

 

Bull would likely see through him anyway.

 

“No, you might as well stay. You would only keep me up as you tried to find where we scattered your clothes.”

 

Bull grinned and followed him back through to the bedroom.

 

He climbed into the bed after Dorian, neither of them bothering with any clothes, and before Dorian could wonder about the logistics of sharing a bed with a man he had just had sex with, he was hauled over to cuddle into Iron Bull’s side.

 

“You would be a cuddler,” Dorian said, sniffing derisively; he didn’t want to admit how nice it felt.

 

“Cuddling is non-negotiable if you expect me to say yes to that fourth date.”

 

Dorian smiled, hiding it against Bull’s skin.

 

“Oh, I have to ask you now?” he asked instead.

 

Bull hummed an affirmative. “I want to be wooed.”

 

“Can you promise me you’ll say yes?” He asked, wanting to know before he slept.

 

“As long as you cuddle.” Dorian couldn’t tell if he was being teased about the cuddling, and Bull had seen straight through him to how much he liked it, or if it really was something Bull liked. He wasn’t going to question it.

 

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Very well, but if I’m cuddling and handling the fourth date, then you are taking five and six.”

 

Bull laughed, pressing a kiss into Dorian’s hair.

 

“Sounds like a deal, Dorian.”

 


End file.
